India drawing up plans to bring back its citizens stranded abroad

The Indian foriegn ministry in coordination with its missions abroad besides the civil aviation ministry and state governments, is drawing up plans to bring back Indians stranded abroad, two people familiar with the development said on Sunday.

Though the consultations are on, the stranded Indians will be flown back only after the nationwide lockdown to control the spread of the novel coronavirus is lifted, the two people said separately. Prime minister Narendra Modi has announced that the lockdown will be in place still 3 May.

The evacuations were discussed at a meeting of state chief secretaries chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba on Saturday. They will also depend on the lockdown situation in the host country, one of the two cited above said. Those being evacuated will have to pay for their tickets, the person cited above said.

There are thousands of Indians stranded abroad, especially in the Gulf with many of them appealing by posts on Twitter to airlift them home. Since the nation wide lockdown, Indians from a few locations like covid-19 hotspot Iran have been brought back by special flights arranged with the help of the Iranian government. Air India operated special flights to China and Japan in January and February to bring back Indians stranded there.

So far, India has recorded more than 26,000 coronavirus cases including more than 800 deaths.